After much debating, I've decided not to paddle tomorrow... A
two-and-a-half hour drive each way, with a forecasted high of about
12C (54F) and possible rain, with the river flowing at the very bottom
end of the guide book's "low" range. It's got me wondering... Do
most WW paddlers keep going till the ice forms, pack it in as soon as
the leaves turn, or what? I'd probably still go if it was closer,
but...

Ben

In article ,
(Ben) writes:

After much debating, I've decided not to paddle tomorrow... A
two-and-a-half hour drive each way, with a forecasted high of about
12C (54F) and possible rain, with the river flowing at the very bottom
end of the guide book's "low" range. It's got me wondering... Do
most WW paddlers keep going till the ice forms, pack it in as soon as
the leaves turn, or what? I'd probably still go if it was closer,
but...

Ben

Well, in my old age I've gotten soft. I now only paddle in the winter if the
air temperature is going to stay above freezing. Fortunately, here in the
Southeast US,
that generally lets me paddle during most of the high water winter months. Last
year was an exception. Snow and Ice Storms kept me off the rivers almost all of
January and Febuary.

SYOTR
Larry C.

"Ben" wrote in message
m...
After much debating, I've decided not to paddle tomorrow... A
two-and-a-half hour drive each way, with a forecasted high of about
12C (54F) and possible rain, with the river flowing at the very bottom
end of the guide book's "low" range. It's got me wondering... Do
most WW paddlers keep going till the ice forms, pack it in as soon as
the leaves turn, or what? I'd probably still go if it was closer,
but...

Ben


Just returned from the Noire in Quebec last week.(this week would have been
great!) Snowed on us one night/day. Rained all the rest. The weather did
have us portaging/lining some of the rapids that we typically would have run
for a couple of reasons. One, the cold and wet air made drying out if you
dumped somewhat imperative. Plus, the water levels were very high. Much
higher even than when a couple of our members ran it on a spring trip. We
still ran WW, we just made sure it was within the capabilities of every
group member. We will do very late fall trips, where we have had to break
shore ice in the mornings, but we are primarily trippers, not WW fanatics,
so WW isn't really a necessity to us.

Depends on the year. Used to be, I'd keep it going but just paddle
less frequently, but now I'm all about skiing once the season
starts (around mid-November).

--
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield,
Other days you're the bug.

I'm also in the SE and am able to paddle through out the year. I draw
the line when the air temp drops below freezing though. I'm hoping to
get in alot of paddling this fall and winter since I haven't been able
to boat for two summers.

Richard, if you're reading this, it was nice to finally meet you in
real life.

debra

people drive two-and-a-half hours for an afternoon of paddling? and here
I am wondering why gasloine is in short supply and prices are high. thanks
a lot.

when I moved to Ottawa I looked around to see what was available locally
in recreational persuits and chose from among them. fortunately we have
plenty of outdoor stuff here, paddling and skiing being two. but hey,
there's always cyling and backpacking and lots of other things. why drive
hundreds of miles for one afternoon of paddling? its just recreation.

I've paddled until mid December. There's always a gap between freeze up
and build up. You can't just stop paddling and start skiing unles you have
some sort of plastic pleasure dome. I mean real skiiing, not that downhill
only stuff on fake snow.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

Well, here's the thing: I live in Edmonton, and the closest
whitewater IS two-and-a-half hours away (Near Rocky Mountain House),
so long drives are part of any WW paddling we do around here. Usually
we try to make a weekend out of it, but one doesn't always feel like
dragging out the camping gear and giving up the whole weekend every
time they feel like paddling, ya know? As for it being "just
recreation"... Well, I think a lot of people would take exception to
your trivialization of recreation! For many of us, it's through
recreation that we achieve real spiritual fulfillment. Anyhows, be
very glad you live in Ottawa... And I'm not even going to start to
describe the seething envy I have for those paddlers who get to paddle
almost year-round!

Ben

(William R. Watt) wrote in message ...
people drive two-and-a-half hours for an afternoon of paddling? and here
I am wondering why gasloine is in short supply and prices are high. thanks
a lot.

when I moved to Ottawa I looked around to see what was available locally
in recreational persuits and chose from among them. fortunately we have
plenty of outdoor stuff here, paddling and skiing being two. but hey,
there's always cyling and backpacking and lots of other things. why drive
hundreds of miles for one afternoon of paddling? its just recreation.

I've paddled until mid December. There's always a gap between freeze up
and build up. You can't just stop paddling and start skiing unles you have
some sort of plastic pleasure dome. I mean real skiiing, not that downhill
only stuff on fake snow.

On 13 Oct 2003 13:22:18 GMT, (William R.
Watt) wrote:

people drive two-and-a-half hours for an afternoon of paddling? and here
I am wondering why gasloine is in short supply and prices are high. thanks
a lot.


two and a half hours would be a treat. I used to try to keep within a
4:1 ratio; four hours driving time needed to get me an hour on the
water. I have not always done that well, sorry to say.

I live in Indiana, we have very little whitewater. I don't mind long
drives, and I am not bitching about the gas prices. In fact, I've
used the RV for most trips this past year. 10 MPG, but you always
have cold beer at the take out!

The quicker we use up the gasoline, the sooner I'll get back on my
bike. Until then, as long as the pols want me to have cheap gas, I
intend to burn all I want to burn.

-Dan V.

Ben ) writes:

Well, I think a lot of people would take exception to
your trivialization of recreation!

only because its non-productive activity. feeds nobody. houses nobody.
adds nothing of practical use to the body of human knowledge. take away
whitewater paddling, and all non-transprotation paddling, and the world is
no worse off. reintroduce non-transportation paddling and the world is no
better off.

... For many of us, it's through
recreation that we achieve real spiritual fulfillment.

sorry, whitewater paddling is a testoterone thing, not a spiritual thing.
like sex and love. sex only feels like love. for a true spiritually
fullfilling recreational activity I recommend dog walking.

Anyhows, be
very glad you live in Ottawa... And I'm not even going to start to
describe the seething envy I have for those paddlers who get to paddle
almost year-round!

It is hard to be spiritual in the freezing dark while slogging through
knee deep snow. There's something that feels spiritual about sitting by a
warm fire.

I certainly envy Albertans who don't pay provincial tax on gasoline or much of
anything else.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

(William R. Watt)

typed in Message-ID:

Ben ) writes:

Well, I think a lot of people would take exception to
your trivialization of recreation!

only because its non-productive activity. feeds nobody. houses nobody.
adds nothing of practical use to the body of human knowledge. take

way
whitewater paddling, and all non-transprotation paddling, and the world is
no worse off. reintroduce non-transportation paddling and the world is no
better off.

Sorry, I'm productive some 60 hours or so a week, were I am housing people, so
I don't feel guilty about being non-productive
when I paddle. I'm being purposely non-productive. BTW, is there anything
particularly productive about building a wooden boat that some one is going to
recreate in?

sorry, whitewater paddling is a testoterone thing, not a spiritual thing.
like sex and love. sex only feels like love. for a true spiritually
fullfilling recreational activity I recommend dog walking.

You don't paddle whitewater, do you? Isn't that like being celibate and telling
me about sex? WW rivers take you to some of the last truly unspoiled places,
often within in a couple of hours of civilization. And Yes, I like the rush
that WW gives me too.
Don't buy your definition of spirituality, Ghandi.


SYOTR
Larry C.